One of the most important, and most difficult skills, in the game of golf is putting. To be a good putter, one must master the skills of reading the greens, adjusting the amount of force applied by the club to the ball to reach the hole and aligning the putting head to the golf ball to direct the golf ball in the optimal direction. The present invention is an alignment apparatus which allows a user to place his or her eyes and head in the same spatial relationship with respect to the putter head every time. In addition, the putter head is positioned in the same relationship to the ground every time it is used.
Thus, there are a number of such alignment apparatuses in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 7,341,526 entitled “Golf Putter Having Alignment Aid For Aligning a Golfer's Head in at Least Four Axes” which issued on Mar. 11, 2008 to McCarthy provides an alignment aid for aligning a golfer's head with the putter and the ball. A central rear surface 114 is substantially parallel to putting face 108 and defines a forward boundary of cutaway region 116. A lower alignment pin 118 is disposed in the central rear surface and projects rearwardly therefrom into the cutaway region. An upper alignment pin 120 is disposed above the lower alignment pin and also projects rearwardly from the central rear surface into the cutaway region. The lower and upper alignment pins could be the same or a similar color, however, optimally a contrast in color between the two is desirable. The exact positions of the lower and upper alignment pins on the central rear face depends upon the geometry of putter head 104 and, to some extent, to the exact needs or preferences of a particular golfer. Regardless of the exact positions of the alignment pins, their relative positions are established such that when a golfer with his or her head is directly over the ball and sights down sight line 112, the golfer may quickly and repeatedly place his or her head in exactly the same spot directly over the ball 102. This head placement repeatability has been found to significantly improve putting accuracy.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,249 entitled “Golf Putter Head” which issued on Jul. 23, 1996 to Benson shows a flat horizontal flange 26 with a raised strip or marker 28 which extends perpendicularly to the striking face 21. The marker may consist of any line, groove or any other marking or symbol formed on the flange which is visible to the golfer. The putter head also includes a horizontal beam or protrusion 30. The protrusion extends outwardly from the upper edge of the rear face, perpendicular to the striking face and is spaced above the flange and marker. In a stance, a golfer can instantly and accurately determine if the putter head is parallel to putting surface 6 as the golfer's view of the marker is obstructed by the protrusion only when the sole of the putter head is parallel to the putting surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,430 entitled “Golfer Club Including Indicators For Aligning Golfer's Head Relative Thereto” which issued on Apr. 29, 1975 to McCabe discloses a putter with two interactive alignment indicators. Along the upper edge of the club head 22 is a flat area 31 in which there is located as straight line or groove 32. At about the center of the club head, opposite that part of the face which is intended to strike the ball, is a rearward extension 33 having a line or groove 34 which is perpendicular to the line 32. The extension extends from a tapered flange 35 which extends rearwardly from the face. A pair of lines or grooves 36 are located on the tapered flange, on to either side of the rearward extension. The lines 36 are parallel to line 34 and are located equidistant from either side. To use, the golfer adjusts the putter to more or less level on the green positioning his head thereabove so that the line 34 will appear to be precisely midway between the pair of lines 26.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,544 entitled “Golf Putter” which issued on Jan. 22, 2991 to Benson has a golf putter utilizing a light colored strip of tape 26 located on bottom flange 28 of putter head 10 between weighted end portions 20 and 22. The strip is located with its terminal edges equidistant from the sweet spot of the club head designated by dark line 18. A block 24 of any suitable material or shape is affixed to the head and located in the geometric center of the strip. The block has side walls 36 and 38 and one or more end walls 40. The end walls include line 18 to assist the golfer with target line selections and to identify the sweet spot. As shown, the dark line 18 is bordered by light colored lines 42. Each side wall is similar in color to line 18. When a golfer is properly positioned, the golfer will only see lines 18 and 42.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,910 entitled “Golf Putter for Aligning Player's Head” which issued on May 28, 2002 to McCarthy provides a putter with a golf head having visual indicator guides for aligning the player's head with the club head, ball and the cup. The guides are provided by distinguishable, colored surfaces that project the appearance of one or more pairs of alignment lines to the golfer's eye, despite the fact that no marking exist to conform to USGA rules. Club head 16 has two identical white concave surfaces 22 formed in its outermost dies and around the cutout section of the club head. Top surface 14 is a dark or black color. When viewed properly from above, the white concave surfaces project what appears to be two thin lines 24 and 26 towards the golfer's eye which assist in aligning the head to the club face, the ball and the cup.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,279 entitled “Golf Club Capable of Selective Angle Modification Between the Hosel and Head, and Selective Shaft Length and Method of Assembling the Golf Club” which issued on Oct. 31, 1995 to Culpepper has a putter with a club head 1 having a protrusion 5 with a line 29 serving as an alignment aid as an integral part of the head extending from the center of the rear side 9 thereof.
None of the cited references provide an alignment apparatus which allows a user to place his or her eyes and head in the same position with respect to the putter head every time and positions the putter head in the same relationship to the ground every time it is used. Thus, none of the known prior art disclose the combination set forth herein.